Carina Rose Black, The Fourth Year
by Katie80-90Thousand
Summary: Carina's back for year four, and as usual trouble is only seconds behind her. But this year might be more dangerous than any previous, despite all efforts to the contrary. WiP. On hiatus
1. Magus Vendetta Bond

Chapter One: The Vision Thing

**August 19****th**** 1994**

"'Rina! Carina, calm down, it's just a dream!"

It took a second for Carina to realize that the voice was right… and that the voice belonged to her godfather. _Oh_. "James?" she asked in surprise. "What're you doing in here?"

"You were screaming the house down," he said dryly. "I was trying to wake you up. What on earth were you dreaming about?"

Carina frowned, trying to remember the details of her dream. "Voldemort," she said flatly. "And another guy, I couldn't tell who he was, but he was a death eater, that's for sure."

"You were grabbing your forehead," James observed. "Was your scar hurting?"

Carina nodded, "That doesn't make sense, though, does it? Do you think it was real? How would that be possible?"

James looked as unsure as she was feeling.

Carina sighed. "Oh well. It's seven in the morning anyway, we may as well be awake."

Groaning, James said, "Merlin, Carina! And you say _I'm_ insane!"

"And lazy," Carina said dryly, smirking at him. "Seven o'clock is a perfectly reasonable time to get out of bed and start the day."

James wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Fine, if we're staying awake, I'm going to go get dressed and then eat whatever food the house-elves have ready."

Carina rolled her eyes in amusement as James left the room. Honestly, she'd never understand the wizarding world and their inability to eat healthy. Grease, fat, sugar… they gorged themselves on it, and irritatingly enough, most of them never gained weight from it.

But that was another ranting subject, and it could wait until she had an audience that would be willing to listen… or, in other words, Hermione. Because she was the only one who didn't think that Carina was crazy for thinking that the way the magical world ate was disgusting.

"What to wear?" Carina asked herself thoughtfully, only to be interrupted by a shocked and somewhat horrified gasp. "Not you, too!"

Carina spun around in shock, before calming as she realized it was Hermione. "Merlin, Hermione, you scared the knowledge out of me!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I was trying to scare the hell out of you," she mocked. "I thought James would appreciate it."

The best retort to this that Carina could come up with was to stick her tongue out and pout. She nearly laughed at Hermione's exasperated expression. "Not me, too, what?" Carina asked, remembering what her friend had said in announcing her presence.

"Ella and 'Rea _and_ Ginny have a serious case of teenage-girl-fashion-worries," Hermione said, with her distaste evident on her features. "Why does it matter? I mean sure, you want to look good, but it doesn't take that long to get dressed for an average, non-formal, day!"

Carina grinned widely. "That isn't what I was thinking… I was trying to decide if I should bother with jeans, or if I can just wear sweatpants."

Hermione got a mischievous look on her face. "Why don't you wear that outfit we bought on your birthday," she grinned. "Don't you just want to see his reaction?"

"Which he?" Carina asked dryly.

"I meant James, but I'm sure _you_ want to see Terry's," Hermione said in amusement.

"I'm wearing it to the cup," Carina confessed. "But don't tell James, because I intend to hide it from him until it's too late for him to make me change… and to only bring rather immodest pajamas with me for the night."

An exasperated shake of the head was all Carina got in response from Hermione.

Deciding to stop picking on Hermione, she grabbed a tank top and pair of jeans that she'd picked up on the shopping trip with Hermione on her birthday. After three years in wizarding robes, she had to admit it was relief to wear normal clothes again.

Even the crap that the Dursley's had forced her to wear wasn't as bad as those bulky robes!

Okay, that was a slight stretch. The Dursley's clothes for her had barely been enough that no one thought anything suspicious was happening inside #4. After all, the Dursley family was perfectly normal, thank you very much, and did not stand for anything that wasn't.

Carina gave a slight laugh at her thoughts. Thank god that the Dursley's were behind her now. In the past, and never returning to her life again.

Once dressed, Carina and Hermione walked down the stairs, Carina not even replying when James asked her if she _honestly believed that qualified as clothes_. "So tell me about this dream of yours," Hermione pressed Carina.

Carina blinked. "Have you become a Seer?" she asked worriedly.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "No, Carina. James said something about it. Now, share with the class, will you?"

"Bad influence," James muttered under his breath, realizing they were both ignoring him. He felt sorry for Hermione's parents… before she'd become best friends with Carina they'd had an angelic little girl… now they had a teenage girl who seemed to be becoming more like Carina every day. While James had no problem (most of the time) with Carina, he figured it would be a hard change to get used to.

As Carina finished explaining what she remembered of the dream, Hermione was deep in thought.

"You don't think…" she said to Carina, who looked puzzled.

"Oh!" she exclaimed softly, "Library!" With this statement made, she dropped the toast she had been eating and jumped out of her chair, running for the library. Hermione quickly followed.

James shook his head in bewilderment. It was kind of sad, in his opinion, that teenage girls only got more confusing as he got older.

Half an hour later, Carina and Hermione emerged from the library triumphant. "So _obvious_," Carina muttered, shaking her head in self-chastisement.

"You couldn't have expected that," Hermione pointed out fairly.

Carina rolled her eyes. "Maybe not, but it was obvious either way. I mean, how else would you explain this? The Avada Kedavra hit us both, and yet neither of us died. I was left with a curse scar and he was thrown from his body. When I was still at the Dursley's, I got horrible headaches, and no one ever could figure out why. Looking back, they were in the area of my scar. So the dream was real, what Voldemort and whichever Minion were doing at the time truly happened, and I'll probably be getting these dreams until one of us dies."

James blinked. "Huh?"

"It's noted, in some really, really old books," Hermione explained. "Very few people would have expected it, but Carina feels like she should have. A curse scar that binds the victim and the attacker together until one of them dies. It's called a Magus Vendetta Bond… a magical bond between two people, it goes away when the problem is settled… which is generally when one or the other dies."

"Oh," James said, for lack of anything better to say. "Why do you two get to be so smart?" he whined.

Carina and Hermione exchanged looks, turned back to him, and said, "We fell to the Dark Side of Corrupted Young Minds," in unison.

James groaned. "I knew that would come back to bite me!"

Both girls just smirked at him.


	2. Throwing A Fit

Chapter Two: Throwing A Fit

This had been a long day, and Carina was emotionally spent. But the sight of the man who had sent her godfather to Azkaban without a trial was enough to bring back some energy, if only so she could yell at him a little.

And then, before she could get into a good rant, Crouch opened his mouth and implied that she had cast the Mark of the man who had killed her parents into the sky! "Listen here, you right little arsehole," she said menacingly. "I understand that you're a little moron who keeps himself feeling good by ruining everyone else, but if you DARE insinuate that I would EVER join or support the man who MURDERED MY PARENTS IN COLD BLOOD, you will PRAY that you get sent to Azkaban without a trial!"

The mans eyes widened and he looked at Carina in a mix of shock and wariness.

"Now, you judgmental, arrogant, self-worshipping pathetic excuse for a human being, keep your mouth shut from this point, because I have quite enough reasons to absolutely despise you without your assisting me in getting more!" she snarled.

"I don't know, Black, I think Crouch has a point," a new voice drawled.

"We all have points, the top of our heads," Carina snapped sarcastically. "Seeing as how no one here really cares about your opinion, would you do us a favor and take your whiny little arse far, far away from here?"

"Is it that time of the month, then, Black?" Malfoy drawled mockingly.

This was the point that Carina lost what little control she had over her temper, and, completely ignoring that she had a wand, she smacked Draco across the face, followed it up with a punch, and then kneed him in a particularly painful place. "Keep your mouth shut, you smarmy little rat, and at least be original if you're going to be insulting!" Then she turned to Crouch. "As for you, I had already hated you for sending James to Azkaban. Now I hate you for accusing me of casting the dark mark, and for being a prejudiced, arrogant, self-important GIT!"

James, at this point, decided that as amusing as it was to watch his goddaughter go off on Crouch and Malfoy Jr., he should probably calm her down before she killed one of them. "'Rina, calm down."

"CALM DOWN?!" Carina asked incredulously. "Have you completely lost your mind!? Can you honestly look at Crouch and say you wouldn't find it satisfying to hex him good a time or two?!"

"No," James said curtly. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to. I would appreciate it if you didn't, either, because it happens to be illegal, especially since you're underage."

Carina scowled but stopped ranting at Crouch… and looking anywhere but at the pompous, obnoxious little politician. James sighed, and in a lower voice that only she could hear, said, "As much as we both hate him, Carina, he's a very politically powerful man, and it's not wise to cause problems with him. So do us a favor and apologize."

Carina looked at him incredulously and said flatly, "No."

"_Now_," James added pointedly. "Look, sometimes we have to do things we don't like to do, this is one of those times for both of us… because honestly, I quite agree with your opinion of him. But he's not an enemy we want or need to have. Please apologize to him."

With a furious glare, Carina stomped towards the ministry wizards and growled, "I apologize, Mr. Crouch, for telling you exactly what I honestly think of you, because apparently we're all supposed to be nice to the bastards who don't care about anything but th – "

She was interrupted at this point by James grabbing hold of her shoulder and activating a portkey.

"What was that?" he demanded.

"An apology," Carina answered imperiously.

"Carina," James sighed.

"No," she said firmly. "Look, I understand that it's not wise to make an enemy out of that petty, pompous little man, but that doesn't mean I'm going to act like I like him. I utterly despise that man almost as much as I hate Voldemort, and I WON'T pretend to even slightly respect him."

James rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll let it be, but d'you really hate him that much?" he asked her curiously.

Carina scowled at him. "What do you think?" she asked sarcastically. "No, I don't hate him at all, I think he might be my _hero_," she mocked when he looked at her blankly.

James shuddered. "All right, no more teasing Carina. Dangerous for the mental health."

Now it was Carina's turn to roll her eyes, and she did so, fighting the urge to laugh at her godfather and his mood swings. Either way, though, it had been an exhausting day, and she wanted to go to bed and stay there for a long while.

Unfortunately for her, that wasn't going to happen, or at least, not yet.

"So, Carina, why don't you tell me how you came to be wearing clothes that I specifically said I didn't want you wearing when you were out of this house?" It seemed that James had, at some point during the time before and after the actual Quidditch Match, figured out that she'd managed to smuggle out the outfit that he'd protested again so much.

Carina winced. Damn. So much for _that_ plan going perfectly. "Er…"

James sighed. "Carina…"

"They're cute and they're comfortable and why is it a big deal, anyway?" Carina asked in one breath.

"Because I know how males think," James said dryly.

"Like I said, cute and comfortable, I don't care what they think," Carina said defensively.

"Don't think I didn't notice Boot drooling all over you, Carina Rose," James scolded. "And I would very much appreciate it if you didn't lie to me."

"Yes, because that's something _every_ teenage girl wants to tell their overprotective father figure," Carina muttered sarcastically. "Fine, I care what they think, that's why I wore it, but it _is_ cute and comfortable either way!"

"Let me tell you, the _only _thing going through Boot's dirty-teenage-boy-mind was what you'd look like with even _less_ covering you up," James said flatly. "That's not debatable, it's a fact of human-male nature, 'Rina."

Carina bit back the retort she so desperately wanted to use. It wouldn't be wise to tell him that she wouldn't mind Terry seeing her with less covering her up, as that would likely make it virtually impossible to spend even three seconds alone with her boyfriend. Even if she didn't mean it, James would think she did. Damned overprotective fatherly instincts of his. "Whatever," she said out loud, semi-conceding. "Can I get some sleep now? It's been a disgustingly long day and I'm _tired_!"

James looked at her and then sighed. "Yeah, get some sleep. But we're finishing this conversation tomorrow, 'Rina."

"Aye, sir," Carina said sarcastically with a mocking salute to match it as she left in search of her oh-so-comfortable bed.


	3. THE Alastor Moody!

Chapter Three: THE Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody?!

**August 25****th**** 1994**

Carina was tired and hungry and not at all pleased to be awake. This had _everything_ to do with the fact that she'd stayed up all night reading that book, but she wasn't admitting that to James. So she stumbled downstairs, sat down at the table without looking up, and gleefully downed a cup of coffee.

Merlin, that stuff rocked!

She heard a growling sort of chuckle and looked up in confusion, jumping slightly at the man who was sitting across from James. After a second she pushed away her initial thoughts on how creepy his appearance was and said, "Carina Black. Pleased to meet you. Give me an hour and a few more cups of coffee and I'll be more sociable."

He chuckled again in amusement and said, "Alastor Moody, I'm pleased to meet you as well, lass."

Carina's head shot up and she was instantly awake, ignoring James' muffled laughter. "Alastor Moody? As in _Auror_ Alastor Moody who wrote Don't Play Nice – They Certainly Won't?"

Alastor nodded and Carina squealed in excitement. "That was such a good book! It was one of the most down-to-earth-realistic defense books I've ever read!" she gushed. "Most of the other defense books sound like they came straight from the mouth of Barty Crouch, they're that pathetic, but yours was wonderful!"

Alastor nodded, "Thanks, lass. And you've got that spot on, they probably _did_ come straight from the mouth of Barty Crouch… they and every other book full of bias bullshit they're selling these days."

Carina beamed at him, this guy had just made her like him even more! "And what do you think of Dear ol' Barty?"

She saw James groan out of the corner of her eyes but didn't acknowledge it.

"Not anything I'm willing to say in polite company…" Alastor trailed off and looked around the room. "Looks like you're the only polite company here, though, lass."

"Oi!" James protested.

"Whatever your opinion is, I probably share it," Carina said dryly. "I think he's a pompous, bias, arrogant, selfish, self-serving, idiot with delusions of grandeur and about a third of a heart."

"Good summary," Alastor said approvingly. "Yeah, you've got him pegged."

Carina smirked at James.

"I never said I liked him, just that it was better not to have him as an enemy," James said defensively. "And it's not a lie, either!"

"Probably not," Carina conceded calmly. "But I'd rather eat dog shit than suck up to him."

Alastor cracked up into laughter again, apparently finding this incredibly amusing, as well as the exasperated expression on James' face.

Carina poured herself a third cup of coffee (she still remembered the stunned expression on James' face the first morning she'd been here… he thought she was too young to be a coffee addict. Then again, he'd never lived with Vernon and Petunia Dursley as their virtual slave…) and asked conversationally, "So to what do we owe the pleasure, anyway, Mr. Moody?"

"Lordy, Lass!" Alastor exclaimed. "Call me Alastor or Mad-Eye, I don't do 'Mr. Moody' these days."

"Right-o, Alastor," she saluted in amusement.

"I'm here to try to convince James to take the DADA job at Hogwarts so that I don't have to surround myself with a bunch of brats and force myself to teach them," Alastor explained.

Carina choked on her coffee. "WHAT?!"

"Which part?" Alastor asked calmly.

"The part where you mentioned James teaching at Hogwarts!" Carina exclaimed in alarm. "He can't, that's insane!"

James chuckled, "Carina, I already said no."

"Oh thank god," Carina said with relief.

"Gee, I love you, too," James said dryly.

"I do love you, I just think that it's my right as a teenager to my school nearly completely parentless for the time that I'm there," Carina said with dignity, ignoring his amused smirk. "Why don't you ask Uncle Keith? Or even Uncle Remus again?"

"Already tried, Lass," Alastor said in amusement.

"Hmm…" she said thoughtfully.

"Shacklebolt might do it," James suggested.

"That's a ringing endorsement, you're the third person to say that this morning," Alastor said dryly.

"Problem solved," Carina said conclusively. "Without parents invading the sanctity of Hogwarts."

James chuckled. "I'm beginning to wonder what you get up to at that school," he teased.

"Beginning to?" she asked in mock surprise. "And here I thought you were intelligent! If I were you, I'd have been wondering a few hours into first year!"

"All right, lesson learned for the 500th, time, don't try mock-arguing with Carina, she's the master of all arguments involving sarcasm and wit," James said flatly.

"Mistress," Carina corrected in amusement. She turned her attention back to Alastor. "Is it true that you were one of the people who wrote Runes In Dueling?"

"Oh, dear lord she's gone," James muttered under his breath.

"Aye, Lass," Alastor agreed, smiling slightly.

"I found it absolutely fascinating!" she exclaimed. "My runes teacher, Sorenson, claims that it gives runes disrepute or something like that, but I've never been one to blindly follow others judgements, so I read it and a few others and it was absolutely fantastic! If some people could just stop being so dull, it would be a _great_ course book!"

"You read any of my other books?" Alastor asked with a smile, and James groaned, thumping his head against the table. Neither Alastor nor Carina paid him any attention. "For instance, It's Not Paranoia If They Really _Are_ Out To Get You?"

Carina grinned in amusement, "That one was great! There was a copy in James' library but I had to buy my own… actually, I think I have all of your books."

"Really?" he asked, appearing surprised. "Including Potions For Practical Thinking Minds?" he sounded rather dumbfounded.

Carina knew why, that book had NOT been popular, what with just about every Potions Master in existence claiming it was an insult. "How do you think I keep passing potions with _Snape_ as a teacher?" she asked, her distaste for Snape obvious in her voice. "The companion booklet was a big help, too. I don't know why they don't encourage students to buy that, it would make understanding the potions so much easier!"

James thumped his head against the table again, still being ignored.

"What's your favorite, lass?" Alastor asked curiously.

Carina looked thoughtful before she answered, "That's probably Stay Awake: History _Can_ Be Interesting. Hermione, that's my best friend, wasn't sure about it at first, but after even both of us couldn't deal with Binns and stay awake, she agreed that it was the best. I'm still at a loss as to why people bought Lockhart's _crap_ when they could've gotten books worth reading written by someone with an ounce of intelligence!"

"Oh dear lord," James said in horror. "Please you two, stop!"

Carina scowled at her godfather.

"At least wait until I'm not in the room!" he pleaded. "I can't do books. I don't like them, I only use them when I have no choice, and I certainly don't want to discuss them!"

Carina rolled her eyes. "Well, are you leaving, then?" she asked impatiently.

James sighed. "Are you kicking me out? Away from my food?" he pouted at her.

"Well, you could just leave us alone and let us talk," Carina reasoned.

Alastor chuckled. "I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunities to talk, lass."

Carina beamed at him.


	4. Magical Contracts Are Evil, Too!

Chapter Four: Magical Contracts Are Evil

**September 1****st**** 1994**

Carina stared at the head table, wondering when the whole world had gone insane and how on earth she'd missed it. She could hear some of the older students discussing the history of the tournament, and thought for a second to join in, but changed her mind. "Idiots," she muttered under her breath upon glancing at the Gryffindor table. Her cousins and Weasley were all whispering to each other and looking wistful, as though they thought that it was a _good_ idea to compete in a deadly tournament for 1,000 galleons and a bit of fame. Craziness!

Hermione muttered, "To the first degree," in clear agreement with Carina.

"Why would anyone do that?" Carina asked bewilderedly. "I mean, it's a risk to your life, the prize _if_ you survive and win isn't worth all that much, and the so-called fame only lasts so long as the memory of each tournament!"

Terry wrapped an arm around her shoulder and Carina fought the urge to blush. She really disliked the whole public displays of affection thing, and he knew it! So why was he doing that?

"Because, my dear Miss Black," Terry said teasingly. "The adults decided to have it, and it's now an honor thing. So whoever the Hogwarts champion is, will be defending our schools honor. Same with Durmstrang and Beauxbatons champions."

"Why don't we defend our intelligence, instead, and tell them that this is insane?" Carina asked flatly, sending a glare in the direction of the head table. They could think it was a nice idea, that was just wonderful, but they would just be judging the competitors, not _doing_ anything. Carina wasn't sure why she was so defensive, it wasn't like _she_ was competing (thank god), but that it was just arranged with no mention to the people most involved really irritated her.

Later, 4th Year Ravenclaw Girls Dorm (B)

"What's the betting that Carina somehow ends up in this tournament?" Hermione teased.

"Very high," Luna said in an unusually serious voice.

"Oh yeah," Ella agreed.

"Why is it even being questioned?" 'Rea asked, grinning. "We already know the answer, we just don't know _how_ yet. Because we _know_ she ain't entering herself!"

"I hate you all," Carina glowered at her dorm mates.

"We love you too, Carina," they chorused back at her.

Carina rolled her eyes and said, "I'm going to sleep. When I wake up, this stupid tournament will all have been a joke, and no one will be dumb enough to think it's a good idea."

Their muffled sniggers were quickly ignored with the help of a silencing charm around her bed.

**October 31****st**** 1994**

**(Great Hall)**

"The Hogwarts Champion is… Angelina Johnson!"

The Gryffindors cheered so loudly that Carina thought her head would explode, although she clapped with them, mainly out of school loyalty.

Startling everyone, the Goblet lit up again. "Carina Black!"

Carina blinked, stared at Dumbledore. "No way!" she blurted, now determined to figure out who she needed to hex senseless for this. Though, seeing as they'd done it, they might already _be_ senseless.

Ten minutes later, Carina found herself reviewing everything she'd ever read about magical contracts and if they had loopholes. "Damn it!" she exclaimed in frustration. "I don't understand how someone else can enter a magically binding contract _for me_! Without my permission, and I've made it quite well known my opinion of this thrice – wait, excuse me, _quadruple _– be damned tournament!"

She heard Angelina Johnson stifle a snort of laughter, and allowed a small smile of her own for a moment, but it quickly disappeared. "Well?" she pressed, glaring irritably between Crouch, Bagman and Dumbledore. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Crouch, "If you're hiding some sort of loophole out of spite, Crouch, let it be known here and now that I will find it, and I will make sure that the whole world knows who hid it!" she growled.

Crouch shifted a bit nervously and then babbled, "I can only think of one loophole and I'm quite sure it can't be used here."

Carina narrowed her eyes. "What is it?"

"No competitors can be pregnant, whether before, or during the tournament, it's the only way to get out of the tournament once you're in," he said nervously.

Carina gaped at him, unable to speak for a moment, as she contemplated that idea. It looked like she was competing in the tournament, because there was no way on _earth_ that she was getting pregnant! She was only fourteen, for gods sake! "How pregnant do you have to be?" she asked calculatingly.

"You are not seriously saying you'd get pregnant and then abort the kid before you were too far along, are you?!" Angelina demanded.

Carina turned to her fellow champion and said, "No. I happen to think abortion is murder. I'm just trying to find a way out of this tournament, because unlike some people here, I don't think that 1,000 galleons and some fame is worth risking my life for!"

Krum snorted. "Neither do the rest of us," he said, shooting an annoyed look at Karkaroff. "We are just here to defend the honor of our schools."

Carina raised an eyebrow at Fleur Delacour and Angelina Johnson, they both nodded.

"What if all the champions agree that it's a stupid idea and we all want to quit?" Carina asked hopefully.

The judges shook their heads negatively.

Carina rested her head in her hands. "I hate my life. This sucks. What d'you lot think, am I mature enough to be a mother?" she questioned her fellow champions.

"Yeah, but you don't want to be," Viktor said, observing her. "And that would be unfair to the child."

Carina hung her head. "Good point. I can't believe I'm doing this. Gods, I can't believe I'm doing this!" She looked at Dumbledore, "You get to tell James, and you get to explain the whole thing to him, because I certainly won't be the one taking the blame for this mess!"

Dumbledore nodded, "Of course, Carina. I'll inform your godfather."

**Later, 4****th**** Year Ravenclaw Girls Dorm (B)**

"Hey, 'Rina," four voices greeted as she entered.

Carina sighed, sitting down on her bed glumly. "Do you lot believe that I didn't enter?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course," they agreed as one.

Carina breathed a sigh of relief. "I have to compete," she said angrily. "The only way out is one I'm not willing to take, so I'm stuck competing."

Hermione snorted. "Did they think you'd do that?"

Carina shot her a sour look. "No, I made them tell me. And seeing as I don't believe in abortion, and I'd resent the kid because I want a life before I have kids, that idea is completely out."

Hermione nodded, and Luna spoke up, "If someone entered you to make a fool of you and/or get you killed, why don't you prevent both?"

Carina looked at her friend, the only third year in a dorm full of fourth years, asked, "What do you mean, Lu?"

"Make a fool of the tournament by 'trying' but not really trying," Luna explained.

Carina looked at her thoughtfully. "That might just work. Thanks, Luna."

"Anytime," Luna said honestly.


	5. Terry The Brainless

Chapter Five: Terry The Brainless

**November 1****st**** 1994**

Carina reluctantly let her dorm mates pull her down to the great hall for breakfast, wishing the whole time that the previous night could have just been a dream. In the hand that wasn't being dragged along by Luna, she held the ever-filling coffee cup Hermione had given her for Christmas in their first year. It had already re-filled twice this morning.

Grumpily, she sat down with her friends, glaring at anyone else who had the nerve to look at her.

"Why didn't you tell me you entered?!" Terry's offended voice demanded, apparently have no regard for his own safety, given that he were talking to her just then.

"I didn't enter," she snapped.

"Don't be a coward," Terry scoffed. "Just tell me the truth, Carina."

"I. Did. Not. Enter," she repeated slowly, getting more than a little pissed off.

"So now you're going to lie about it to me too?" Terry asked bitterly. "Go figure. You _are_ a coward and a cheat."

Carina huffed, stood up and spun around to face her soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend. She slapped him as hard as she could, and then, in her most dangerous voice she said, "You have a whole lot of nerve, you worthless prick! I did not enter that competition and if I had wanted more fame, I'd have found a way to do it that didn't involve getting myself KILLED competing against people with YEARS more training than I have, understand!? Now you keep your tiny little head away from me or I might just break it! And in case you hadn't caught on, we're over!"

Terry huffed and stalked away.

Carina took a deep, calming breath and released it, trying not to scream. "That little rat is lucky that I don't have the willpower to curse him right now. I cant believe he believes this. God, I thought he had a brain. Now I just _wish_ he did."

Hermione patted her shoulder sympathetically. "Girls night in?" she asked with caring in her voice.

"Sounds nice," Carina agreed in a slightly shaky voice. "Sounds great."

"I'll make the plans and invite Myrtle," Hermione promised, standing up, grabbing her bag and running off.

Carina smiled sadly into her coffee cup and drained the last of the fifth-re-fill. With a sigh she placed the cup on a protected outside pocket of her bag (after making sure it wouldn't accidentally refill on its own) and decided to take a walk outside. She hadn't visited the thestrals in awhile, after all.

Before she made it to the thestrals usual area of the forest, a specific one came running out to greet her.

Carina felt a smile curl at her lips despite her previous bad mood. "Hey Candy," she greeted, running her hands down the thestrals neck. "It's good to see you. Hell, it's just plain nice to be outside in the fresh air and away from people hating me constantly."

The thestral nudged her lightly and looked back, then pawed the ground.

Carina's brow furrowed in thought. "You want me to ride?" she guessed in confusion.

Candy nodded, which was a decidedly strange sight.

Carina shrugged, having nothing better to do, and climbed on Candy's back. "Where we going?" she asked as the thestral took off. There was no answer, but then Carina hadn't really expected to get one, either.

It turned out that there wasn't really a destination, Candy had just wanted Carina to get a break – a very long break, as it turned out. It was towards the end of dinner by the time she went inside. She stuffed a few bites into her mouth and dashed up to the dorm where her friends were waiting, all dressed in loose-fitting comfortable clothes, and a huge bowl of ice cream in Hermione's hands.

A smile tugged at her lips. "You're the best friends a girl could hope to have, you know that?" she commented warmly.

"O' course we are," 'Rea agreed. "Now get your butt over here so we can sit and boy-bash while enjoying our ice cream and relaxing while everyone else studies."

Carina's smile turned into a grin as she did exactly as ordered by her cousin.


	6. Making Friends

**Chapter Six: Making Friends**

**November 22****nd**** 1994, 2:00 A.M.**

Carina smiled slightly as her thestral friend pushed her forwards. "I'm goin, I'm goin," she said teasingly. "What's the hurry anyway, Candy?"

The thestral gave her what seemed to be a stern glance and continued pushing her forward. A few moments later, Candy stopped, and a satisfied expression appeared on her face.

Carina was too busy staring in express horror to acknowledge that. The dragons were all scary enough on their own, but the keepers were saying that they were part of the task! The champions had to get past nesting mother dragons.

It didn't take long for Carina to decide that this tournament was for more insane than she'd previously figured. In fact, by the time she'd reached her common room, she was completely sure of this and would've told anyone who would listen – if there was anyone who'd listen. Her roommates would rather plan how to survive than complain about the insanity.

**November 23rd 1994 – Just After Breakfast**

"Angelina? Hey, can I talk to you alone for a minute?" Carina asked, somewhat nervously.

Angelina looked at her oddly. "Sure," she agreed. "But Cedric's coming with me."

Carina resisted the urge to scream. These people were impossible to please. "The first task… it's nesting mother dragons. We have to get past them."

"You're shitting me!" Cedric blurted.

Carina shot him an annoyed glance and shook her head. "I wish. I was, well, to be honest I was sneaking around the forest when I saw them with their handlers."

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Cedric asked, ignoring both Carina's offended glance and Angelina's exasperated one.

"What does she have to gain through lying about it? She didn't even want to be in the stupid thing. Hell, she wanted it less than I did," Angelina explained.

Carina smiled gratefully. "Thank you for being sane, Angelina."

Angelina chuckled. "It's rare in this school, isn't it?" she agreed.

Carina nodded. "One in a thousand," she decided.

"More like one in a million," Angelina scoffed.

Both girls laughed.

Cedric looked a little bit bewildered. "You're friends now, aren't you?" he asked. "And there's going to be even more giggling, isn't there?"

Carina and Angelina exchanged glances and grinned evilly, nodding at him. Angelina said, "Give you three second head start, brother mine."

Cedric didn't wait for a second, he took off running. Carina and Angelina followed slowly behind him, all three of them laughing all the way.

They finally collapsed in exhausted in a never-used hallway, breathing hard and still snickering.

"How will we distract them?" Angelina wondered out loud, sounding hopeless.

"The dragons?" Cedric asked. "Well, you could always summon someone else and make them deal with the stupid thing."

Angelina smacked him on the shoulder, "That's horrible, Ced! I can't believe you!"

Cedric rolled his eyes, "It was a joke, Angie."

"She knows that. She's picking on you," Carina said dryly, rolling her eyes at both of them. Now, to the library!" she announced.

"Oh dear god. I forgot, you're a book addict!" Angelina groaned.

"Hey, books are good! Don't insult the books, or I'll have to insult you," Carina pouted.

"Oh, a personal insult from Carina Black? Sweet! I want one!" Cedric exclaimed.

Carina sighed exasperatedly. "Overly-excited gullible pretty boy!"

Cedric smiled proudly. "I got my own Carina Black insult," he bragged to Angie, who snickered in amusement.

**The Library, Later**

"Why don't we just attack them with pillows?" Cedric offered as he shut yet another book that hadn't offered a single bit of help.

"Because they'd burn them and it'd be pointless?" Carina offered slightly sarcastically.

"Because it's a waste of perfectly good pillows?" Angelina countered. "Oooh, but it's not entirely a bad idea – overwhelm them with a multitude of objects, and just run in an get the egg," she added.

"Scent, sight and sound," Carina pointed out. "But they could be disguised easily enough. You could be on to something," she mused. "But would we both use it?"

"Yes," Angelina said firmly. "Just to piss off some purebloods."

Carina smirked, enjoying this idea as much as her new friends were. It was decided – Angelina and Carina would go up against the dragons after lunch the next day, and they'd do it using similar tactics, solely to piss off the people who came up with the ridiculous idea in the first place. Wicked smirks were exchanged as the group headed off to their various houses.


	7. Distracting Dragons

**Chapter Seven: Distracting Dragons**

**November 24th 1994**

**Families**

"Mum, Dad, Lisa this is Carina Black," Angelina chirped, dragging her parents over towards where Carina was standing with James, Remus, and Keith.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. And Mrs. Johnson," Carina said politely. "This is my godfather, James, and my uncles, Remus and Keith."

The adults all shook hands while Carina and Angelina whispered last minute plans to each other.

"Are you girls nervous?" Keith asked, looking quite excited himself.

Carina and Angelina exchanged glances and scoffed. "Please," Angie said, "It'll be a piece of cake."

Carina held her hand up for a high five, immensely proud of herself for successfully corrupting yet another person to the ways of sarcasm.

"I think you're both a bit too relaxed," Mr. Johnson worried.

"We're just well prepared," they answered in unison.

"Are you trying to replace Hermione?" James wondered.

Carina looked deeply offended. "I can have more than one friend!" she insisted. "Hermione just decided she wasn't 'family' and would wait to walk us down. What's wrong with having several best friends?"

"Nothing, sorry, didn't mean to accuse you of anything," James said, wide-eyed at her increasing ire. Apparently he'd hit a sore point.

Carina sighed. "Sorry, overreaction. Damn Weasley was mocking me about the same thing."

"Weasley? Which one?" Mrs. Johnson asked.

A sour expression appeared on Carina's face, and Angelina groaned. "Mum, did you _have_ to?" she whined.

James looked like he very much wanted to agree with Angelina.

"Ronald. He's a pig-headed, unintelligent, sorry excuse for a wizard who has no self-control and no work ethic!" Carina began.

Remus cut her off, "Carina?" he asked sweetly.

Carina looked at him, her eyes narrowed.

"Pulling pigtails," Remus said with a huge grin.

Carina looked absolutely disgusted.

**After Lunch**

"I feel ill," Cedric complained.

Angelina, Hermione and Carina looked at him like he was insane. He and Hermione were walking Angie and Carina down to the champion's tent before the task.

"You aren't even competing!" Hermione tried to use logic.

"My best friend, sister is, and so is one of my other best friends!" Cedric protested. "You can't tell me you don't feel a bit ill yourself!"

Hermione sighed, conceding the point, with a worried glance at the two girls who wore smirks and did not look even slightly nervous. She was certain Carina had a plan, but that did not do much to reassure her. After all, she knew her best friend better than anyone, and Carina had a wicked streak that Hermione thought the world was better off not discovering.

"Lighten up, Friends of the Champions," Carina smirked. "We'll be fine."

"What Carina says, goes," Hermione informed Cedric with an annoyed expression. "We're no longer allowed to express our worry for our dearest friends."

Cedric snickered. "Is it just me or would no one else get away with that?"

"No one else would get away with it," Carina promised. "Just try me and find out."

Cedric shuddered. Hermione rolled her eyes and Angelina snickered.

Viktor Krum

"Accio Firebolt!" Krum yelled, and when his broom arrived he did some extremely good flying to get the golden egg without much more than a scratch on him.

Fleur Delacour

Fleur cast a conjunctivitis curse at the dragons eyes, following up by transfiguring several nearby boulders into large dogs and dodging spouts of fire as she ran to get the golden egg. She got a pretty severe burn on her right arm, but other than that was okay.

Angelina Johnson

Just like they had planned, Angelina first cast the scent muffling spell, followed by the silencing spell, followed by disillusionment. This done, she quickly copied Fleur by transfiguring boulders, though hers were transfigured into large balls with a lot of bounce, that she quickly placed unbreakable charms on and sent for the dragon as she made a run for the egg.

Carina Black

Carina shocked the crowd by following Angelina's example for the most part. When the time came to transfigure though, Carina shocked them even more by using the little known spells to create a fully functioning Golden Snitch. To be more accurate, she created a dozen, and they were blue and bronze, not golden. She followed their creation by enlarging them and directing them at the dragon as she went for her own egg.

**After The Task**

"You girls kicked ass!" Cedric congratulated them with a huge grin.

Angelina and Carina beamed, exchanged glances and hugged the hell out of him.

Hermione gave them a mock pout, "What about me?"

Carina smirked wickedly. "Want a hug, Mia?"

Hermione took a step backwards as she nodded hesitantly.

Cedric caught Carina's frantic hinting and walked behind Hermione. Angelina stood a few feet away on her right side. At Carina's signal – her smirk widening – the three of them all hugged Hermione at the same time, making a Hermione sandwich.

Hermione squealed and in retort began to tickle Carina, who was very, very ticklish and was sent into fits of giggles. Angelina and Cedric exchanged smirks and joined Hermione in tickling the girl-who-lived.

Carina gasped for air, "If you don't stop I'm going to pee my pants!" she informed them.

Hermione would later wonder what had possessed her to fall for it, but she, Cedric and Angelina relented at this point. Carina smirked at them and started running. "Can't believe you fell for that!" she cackled at them.

Angelina and Hermione exchanged plotting glances as Cedric took off after Carina. They nodded and murmured, "Accio Carina Black!"

Carina came flying back towards them and they proceeded to tickle her again.

In-between giggles, Carina pouted at them and accused them of cheating.


	8. Rita Skeeter And Other Disasters

**Chapter Eight: Rita Skeeter And Other Disasters**

_Daily Prophet  
__November 25th 1994  
__Tri-Wizard Tournament: The First Task  
__By: Rita Skeeter_

_Yesterday at Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the first task of the famed Tri-Wizard Tournament took place. Champions were expected to get past a mother dragon to capture a golden egg that holds clues for the next task. In an excellent display of intelligence and cunning – not to mention flying – Viktor Krum summoned his Firebolt to out fly the dragon and capture his egg. He was followed by Miss Fleur Delacour, who used a simple conjunctivitis curse and received numerous serious injuries. _

_Following these two champions were the two Hogwarts Champions, Miss Angelina Johnson and Miss Carina Black. Making a mockery of an age-old competition, the two Hogwarts Champions had clearly discussed what they would do before the task, sharing ideas and making the task entirely unfair for both themselves and the other contestants. _

_As of the end of the Task, Viktor Krum is in first place, the Hogwarts Champions tied for second, and Miss Delacour is in last place. What was going through the judges minds on giving these scores is beyond this reporter, for surely Miss Johnson and Miss Black should have been docked points for cheating_.

Carina was fuming. If she ever got her hands on this reporter, well, the sanctimonious little witch would regret her insults and catty remarks. This article was bad enough, but the one following, questioning Carina's sanity and the reason Angelina and she had had similar defenses, left her absolutely outraged.

**December 7th 1994**

Angelina, Cedric, Hermione and Carina had all ditched classes to take a break from the constant rumors and catty remarks. They were walking past the Gryffindor-Slytherin Care of Magical Creatures class when Carina spotted the reporter she'd wanted revenge against for over a week.

Hermione groaned, Cedric smirked, and Angelina slapped Cedric on the shoulder for his reaction to Carina getting them caught within the next few minutes.

Carina stalked towards the blonde, fake little bitch with purpose. "You're Rita Skeeter?" she clarified in a sweet tone.

Rita nodded.

Carina smirked, discreetly hexed the so-called woman's hair yellow and her robes – the back of them, of course – to say _Lying Little Skank_ in neon green. "You messed with the wrong girl, you petty little woman," Carina informed her.

Rita raised a challenging eyebrow. "And what do you intend to do about it?"

"Oh, I'll get revenge- when you least expect it, your world will come tumbling down and you will have no one to blame but yourself. You are the single most petty, single-minded, selfish, arrogant fool I have ever had the displeasure of meeting in my admittedly short life. That you have nothing better to do than ruin lives and insult people simply proves to me that you are nothing. No, you are less than nothing; you are the scum twenty meters _below_ nothing!"

"Is that a challenge, Little Girl?" Rita said, after regaining her wits.

Carina gave her a smirk that was pure evil. "Indeed," she answered in an ominous tone that reminded the Gryffindors, Slytherins, Hagrid _and_ her friends of the potions master in a highly disturbing manner.

Cedric, laughing, told her, "Calm down, Fireball. She isn't worth expulsion."

Carina pouted. "No, she isn't... but I'd have a lot of fun doing it." She fought the -very strong- urge to blush at her friends new nickname for her. She'd have to come up with one for him, too - other than that 'Carina Black Personal Insult' of course. A nice one, or at least not an insult... what was the fluttering feeling? Did she have a crush on Cedric? This idea seemed to be a completely obvious, hit-her-over-the-head kind of one, which she proceeded to shove to the back of her mind where it belonged.

No, she didn't have time for crushes or boyfriends, and besides, did she _really_ want to go through that again?

**Charms Class  
****December 10th 1994**

A ball, a _Yule Ball_, Christ Almighty they were having a _dance_. Carina's mind was numb with horror even as Flitwick asked her to stay back and talk to him. They couldn't do this. There could not be a dance. Did these people have any idea exactly how bad at dancing Carina was? It wasn't that she hadn't tried, every female she knew had tried to teach her, it was a fact of life by now: Carina Black was not meant to dance.

"Miss Black, as a Champion and representative of our school, you are required to have a date and to open the dance." Flitwick informed her, apparently not having any idea about how disastrous this was going to be, due to her lack of ability to dance at all.

"No, no, I don't dance," she blurted. "Or more accurately, I can't dance. At all. You don't even want to see me try, it's like Neville with fire charms! Or, or, Ella with summoning charms! Or worse!"

Flitwick's eyebrows rose, he looked a little bit nervous. Those were two of his worst charms students, despite Ella's efforts to the contrary. Worse than that was, in Flitwick's opinion, not something that he wanted to set loose on the school. Unfortunately, he didn't really have a choice. "Be that as it may, it is required."

"This is going to be very, very bad," Carina predicted gloomily, not a single doubt in her mind. It was going to be bad, it was going to be humiliating, and from what she could see she did not have a way out of it. Yes indeed, the world was conspiring against her.

**Later That Night,  
Ravenclaw Girls Dorm B**

Her friends had been approximately no help at all.

Hermione had laughed hysterically as she imagined Carina attempting to dance, and commented that she felt sincerely apologetic towards whatever boy was unfortunate enough to be her date. Luna had, using various mythical creatures and such that no one knew whether or not were real, wondered if the great hall would survive. Ella and Rea had, quite happily, continued this line of thought wondering if the damage Carina would undoubtedly cause would be something that anyone was capable of fixing.

So, between Hermione's laughter, and Luna's, Ella's and Rea's _not-_so-subtle remarks about if it would be fixable, Carina was even _more_ stressed out than she'd been before after seeking their help. To say she did not appreciate their mocking was an understatement. Okay, so she knew she couldn't dance, they didn't have to be so definite in it. She'd wanted help, not mocking, though she totally understood the mocking. Carina dancing was indeed a scary thought.

Unable to sleep, she eventually decided that she would ask the first boy she saw tomorrow –after breakfast, of course – that she actually liked enough to spend a night with. After all, she couldn't risk seeing Weasley or Terry first thing in the morning… spending a full night being polite to them was more than Carina was capable of handling.


	9. The Yule Ball

_Authors Note: So, my updates have been pretty slow on this story, but I am trying – no promises – to get back into writing it. I was looking at a bunch of my favorite authors today, wondering why most of them didn't have updates, and then had this thought occur to me: some people like my stories, too, and I haven't updated them. So to the people who are interested in Carina, this is for you, because I hate being hypocritical. _

_Oh, and I apologize if it's kind of rambling, I'm in a kind of rambling mood today. So, I'd ask for reviews, but since I'm so shy that I never leave reviews, I won't. However, any would be greatly appreciated – they're kind of thing that makes me keep writing when the story feels dead to me. They bring it back to life, ya know? Right, I'm going to shut up now because, well, I need to shut up… End Authors Note_

**Chapter Nine: The Yule Ball  
December 11th 1994**

Successfully escaping the great hall and its hordes of teenage boys who were looking to be the date of one of the tri-wizard champions, Carina breathed deeply in relief.

"That bad, are they?" Cedric asked cheerfully.

"Worse," Carina answered honestly. "Will you go to the ball with me?"

Cedric blinked.

Carina felt the need (for some odd reason, she wasn't sure, herself) to explain, "I decided I'd asked the first guy that I saw that I liked. You win. So, will you?" There were butterflies in her stomach. But she did not have a crush on Cedric. She did not, she did not, she did not!

Oh, she _so_ had a crush on Cedric…

"As friends or as a date?" he asked.

Carina blushed and managed to say, half asking, "Whichever works for you?"

Cedric smirked, "A date it is, then. I can't wait."

He walked away, the smirk still on his face.

Carina stared after him in astonishment. He'd made her all… floaty. She was completely lost floating in the clouds and the knowledge that _Cedric liked her back_! She had a date with Cedric Diggory!

_Oh my god I've got a date with Cedric Diggory_, Carina realized, her jaw dropping. Well damn.

"What's up, Carina?" Hermione asked cheerfully wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

Carina's eyes narrowed. "Who asked you?"

Hermione's lips curled into a secretive but excited smile. "Ryan."

"Ryan Tonks? My cousin, Ryan?" Carina asked incredulously. "The boy has some intelligence after all," she marveled. "You said yes, I take it?"

Hermione nodded, beaming.

"Guess who I'm going with?" Carina was about two seconds away from _giggling_, which was more than a little disturbing in her mind. Giggling was… so not who she was. But Cedric and this floating feeling that he'd caused were making it impossible to really give a damn that she was acting very teenage-girl-ish.

"Who?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"Cedric! It's as a date, not just as friends!" Carina whispered excitedly.

"Oh, that's wonderful, Carina!" Hermione gushed. "Want to go dress robes shopping next Hogsmeade weekend?"

"Hell yes," Carina answered, smiling widely. Both girls did not stop grinning until Carina realized that this date involved dancing. At which point the slightly over dramatic 'what am I going to do?!' fit started.

With Cedric On the Quidditch Pitch

Carina had to admit she'd been surprised when Cedric had asked her to join him on the Quidditch pitch for a picnic – surprised but pleased. He really did like her. She couldn't get over it. And she knew him well enough to know that it had nothing to do with the damned scar on her forehead. He really liked _her_, for some unknown reason. "What's your favorite color?" she asked, suddenly feeling the urge to know more about the boy she was crushing on so badly.

Cedric grinned, "Probably red. You?"

"Blue and purple tie," Carina shrugged. "What's your all-time favorite book?"

Cedric wrinkled his nose but answered, "Promise to never tell?"

"Swear on my life," Carina said solemnly.

"Staying Awake, History Can Be Interesting, by Alastor Moody," Cedric said in rush.

Carina beamed, "That's one of my favorites, too! I love his books, and he's pretty cool in person, too."

Cedric chuckled, "Is there a book that isn't one of your favorites?" he teased lightly.

Carina considered this seriously. "Every single book that Gilderoy Lockhart every wrote," she answered honestly. "And A History Of Magic, but I'd probably like that if it weren't for Binns."

Cedric wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Carina beamed at him. "What's your favorite food?" he asked her with a grin.

"Watermelon," Carina answered promptly. "You?"

"Fried chicken," Cedric grinned. "Your turn."

"What's your favorite drink?"

"Pumpkin Juice," Cedric said, grinning as he awaited the explosion.

"YOU LIKE WHAT?!"

Cedric laughed. "Relax, Fireball. _You_ have a love affair with your precious coffee, which I happen to find repulsive," he teased.

Carina rolled her eyes and laughed herself. "All right, that was a bit of an overreaction."

Cedric tickled her sides and asked, "A bit?"

"Only a bit," Carina confirmed through her giggles.

Finishing Getting Ready For The Ball

"James is going to be murderous if he sees you wearing that," Hermione grinned.

"So it's as good as I thought it was?" Carina replied innocently.

Hermione giggled. "Cedric will drool."

"And my dear sweet cousin will be all over you in that dress," Carina grinned. "We look good," she hooked her arm through Hermione's as they stared in the dorm room mirror. "Hey, Ella?"

Elladora looked up and her jaw dropped. "Jesus, what are you two trying to do, kill all the boys in the school?"

"Tempting thought," Hermione remarked. "Think it'll work on Weasley?"

Carina snorted, "I wish."

"What were you wanting?" Ella prompted after a moment of silence. She was the only one in their dorm who didn't have a date for the dance, and she only didn't have a date because she'd slapped the first (and only) boy who'd worked up the guts to ask her.

Luna was going to the dance with Dean Thomas, solely because she wanted to go and he was the only boy to ask her. She didn't like him, as he liked to tease her, but she'd made that clear. Dean was taking her as a favor, and she was going with him as a favor… they were even. Actually, Luna wasn't aware that Carina and Hermione had done a fair bit of threatening upon finding out that Ron had been intending to ask and prank Luna by standing her up, and as a result Dean had been curious about why the girls were so overprotective of their younger roommate. So he was genuinely interested.

"Will you take a picture of all four of us, and then of me and Hermione?" Carina asked, holding out her camera.

"I ought to charge for this," Ella said mockingly as she took the pictures. "Now go have a good time, but promise not to give me the icky details."

"Four-year-old," Hermione teased.

"Whatever, ditz," Ella smirked.

"I cannot believe you!" Hermione said, wide-eyed. "Just because I have a date, I'm a ditz?!"

Ella snickered, "Gotcha."

Hermione glared at her.

Meeting Cedric

"You look amazing," Cedric breathed when he saw her.

Carina smiled, "You're looking pretty good yourself," she said approvingly.

"No, but I mean, you're… _damn_," Cedric managed.

Carina's smile widened, and then fell. "So, I should warn you that I'm _really_, catastrophically bad at dancing."

"Would it be horrible of me to take it as a good thing, because I hate dancing?" Cedric asked seriously.

Carina beamed, "Not at all! In fact, it's really a relief. Means we only have to dance the one dance, and even if that is going to be bad, it could be worse."

Cedric chuckled, "The lack of negativity is making you glow."

"Don't expect it to happen often," Carina mock warned him.

"I wont," Cedric promised. "Ready to dance?"

"As I'll ever be," Carina answered shakily, as she, Cedric and the other three champions and their dates – Angelina and Fred Weasley, Viktor Krum and Cho Chang, and Fleur Delacour with Roger Davies – started the opening dance.

Not too long later, it was over, and Carina and Cedric found a corner to hide in, exchanging observations and jokes about their classmates. They spent most of the dance staying there, out of sight, mainly for Carina's sake.

He walked her back to the Ravenclaw common room slowly. When they got there, he asked, rather awkwardly, "Would you, uh, like to go on another date sometime?"

"I'd love to," she beamed at him.

He kissed her, hesitantly at first, and then the kisses got harder and more passionate, until a throat cleared and they jumped apart to see Professor Flitwick, looking like he was rather amused and trying to hide it. "Five points from each Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Such public displays of affection are frowned upon in schools, Mr. Diggory, Miss Black," he commented, and then walked away.

Blushing brightly, Carina mumbled a goodnight.

"Wait," Cedric said quickly, and then blurted, "Would you be my girlfriend?"

"Gladly," Carina beamed and pressed a quick kiss to his lips before darting into her common room. She fell asleep with a dazed smile on her lips that night.


	10. Why Would They Think THAT?

**Author's Note: I was faster than usual! Unfortunately I can't guarentee that this chapter is even worth reading, lol. It was written quite quickly, there are probably tons of spelling and grammar errors, but I figured I'd post it so that people don't give up hope of me ever updating. ~ Katie**

**Chapter Ten: Why Would They Think **_**That**_**?**

With the second task fast approaching, Carina and Angelina probably should have been anxious and worried, and filling every second with studying. As it was, they had both figured out the clue relatively quickly after the first task, and had already made their plans. So the majority of their time was spent with Cedric and Hermione, the four of them goofing off or reading (or in Cedric and Angelina's case, passing notes and goofing off while Carina and Hermione read) and rarely even thinking about the task.

Angelina was using gillyweed for the task, Carina was using a potion that was similar to gillyweed but had other benefits, such as having the option of lasting longer and giving you some instincts necessary to surviving under water. The only part the two of them had fretted over was what type of swim suits they would wear.

Cedric's comment about muggle bikinis had been suitably ignored. Hermione's agreement had not. After all, they were in this to drive the purebloods crazy. Bikinis it was. James was going to kill Carina when he found out, but she'd enjoy watching everyone else react.

The Morning of the Second Task

Carina was awake bright and early… with a cup of coffee in her hand the entire time and an annoyed expression as James pestered her about her plans for the task with an almost too eager expression on _his_ face.

Angelina and Carina arrived in the mermen's lair at the same time. They looked at the four captives and then at each other, silently wondering who was supposed to get Cedric and who was supposed to get Weasley. Angelina shrugged and went for Cedric, giggling slightly at Carina's outraged expression.

With immense reluctance, Carina grabbed a sharp rock and worked on setting Ronald Weasley free, lugging him with her up to the surface. The second she'd set him down she turned on the judges with unbelievable amounts of fury. "WHY WOULD YOU USE _HIM_!? WHAT IN THE HELL MAKES YOU THINK I'D MISS RONALD WEASLEY?! I HATE HIM! I UTTERLY DESPISE THE ARROGANT, STUBBORN, USELESS, STUPID FOOL! I WOULDN'T MISS HIM IF WE WERE THE LAST TWO PEOPLE ON EARTH AND ON SEPARATE CONTINENTS! IN FACT, I'D HAVE A ONE PERSON PARTY IN CELEBRATION THAT I'D NEVER HAVE TO SEE HIS UGLY, UNINTELLIGENT FACE AGAIN!"

Bagman, looking seriously frightened by Carina's outburst and the fact that she had her wand out and looked quite ready to start hexing the next person to speak, said timidly, "We asked your godfather who he thought you'd miss the most."

Carina's enraged expression got darker and she stormed over to her godfather, fully intent on hexing him beyond recognition.

Fortunately for everyone, the judges interrupted her to give the points.

Still fuming, not even slightly pacified by the news that she and Angelina were still tied for first place, Carina paced angrily in front of the lake. "WHAT IN THE NAME OF GOD WERE YOU THINKING?!" she bellowed at her godfather, untroubled by their large audience. An audience who looked somewhere between highly amused and like they couldn't believe what they were seeing/hearing.

"We were just trying to cheer you up. It was supposed to be funny." James defended. "Can we take this where we don't have an audience, please?"

"WE were trying to cheer you up?!" Carina asked in dangerously calm voice, though she obediently followed him inside the school in search of a less public place to carry out their argument. The idea that Remus or Keith had helped with this idiotic prank just increased her anger.

"Remus helped," James informed her, shutting the door to the unused classroom and casting a couple of wards to keep Carina's undoubtedly loud yelling from reaching the ears of the curious and nosy Hogwarts students and visitors.

"Where is he?" Carina demanded.

"Carina," James tried to calm her down. "We're sorry. It really was supposed to be funny. And I think he's hiding." James finished with a slight wince.

"I can't believe you did this to me," Carina fumed quietly. "Do you realize that the whole school is going to think I have a crush on Weasley because of this?!"

"I think they caught that you don't like him by your rant out there," James said slightly sarcastically.

"They are teenagers, James, they don't _use_ logic!" Carina protested, slightly whining. "God, did you _have_ to do this?!"

"Sorry," James repeated, and then his eyes narrowed. "What are you _wearing_?"

"It's called a bikini, it's a muggle swimsuit," Carina replied absently.

"You're never wearing one again," James insisted.

"Not when you'll find out," Carina answered cheekily, and added, "I will get revenge, you know."

"I wouldn't expect anything less," James replied.

A Couple Of Hours Later, Unused Classroom

"Hey handsome," she greeted him with a light kiss on the lips.

"Hey gorgeous," Cedric replied. "Should I be jealous of Weasley?" he teased.

Carina punched his arm. Hard.

Cedric did his best to muffle his laughter.

"I hate you," she complained. "I really, really don't like you."

Cedric silenced his laughter, "Carina, I know we're already, well, dating, but I want you to know you mean a lot to me. I know we're young, you're even younger than me, but… well, I just you want you to know that you mean a lot to me."

Carina hugged him hard, "You mean a lot to me, too. Don't worry about Weasley, it was just a fling," she added teasingly.

"Oi!" Cedric protested. "I was trying to be romantic, here!"

"And you succeeded," Carina agreed. "Now can we be cheerful and go prank Weasley?"

Cedric laughed out loud. "You never change."

Entrance Hall: Carina, Hermione, James and Remus

"I should offer to miss the two of you," Carina informed them sternly.

"You couldn't live without us," James said smugly.

"So? I can't live with you, either," Carina replied smartly.

Hermione giggled. "Sounds like you have a problem, Miss Black."

"Bite me, Miss Granger," Carina replied, laughing. She smirked, "No, wait. Don't. Rabies."

"Oh, you're hilarious," Hermione rolled her eyes.

"You both are, actually," Remus interrupted.

"Oh, don't you two have lives to get back to? This is a school and you are old. Unless you're going to teach again, Remus, go away. And James… never mind, no one in their right mind would hire you to teach innocent children." Hermione huffed.

Carina beamed proudly at her friend, looking like she was so proud she might just cry. James and Remus stared at Hermione like she was an alien.

"What?" Hermione took offense at their mindless gaping. "I can be rude, too. Now leave!"

"What she said!" Carina agreed, her laughter barely muffled.

Remus and James left, though not without hugging both girls. James, though, complained that Hermione's parents were going to kill him for letting his goddaughter corrupt their daughter. No one paid much attention to him.


	11. The Chamber Redone

**Chapter Eleven: The Friendship Chamber**

Carina, Cedric, Angelina and Hermione were meeting in the library just to hang out, since they couldn't really use a common room – them being from three separate houses. Angelina and Hermione were passing notes and exchanging conspiratorial glances while Cedric and Carina participated in an enthusiastic make out session.

Finally, Angelina reached over casually and nudged Carina's book so that it slipped off the table.

Carina instantly pulled away from Cedric and grabbed the book with sorrow on her face, clearly feeling horrible for knocking the book over – or at least she assumed she had.

Angelina burst into laughter and Hermione wasn't far behind.

Carina caught on, "You _bitch_!" she protested loudly, glaring at Angelina furiously.

"GET OUT OF MY LIBRARY!" Madam Pince yelled.

Carina, Hermione, Cedric and Angelina obediently filed out of the library, Hermione and Carina both looking rather guilty for causing a disruption in their favorite place at Hogwarts. Carina's anger with Angelina had been half-faked and had instantly fled to be replaced with guilt at getting kicked out of the library.

"We seriously need a place to hang out," Cedric said in exasperation once they were a safe distance away from both the library and Madam Pince.

"And make out," Carina put in with a smirk.

Cedric blushed, just a little.

"Well, there's," Hermione started, and stopped. "It's just, it's the place for…"

"The chamber!" Carina blurted, having caught on to Hermione's thought easily and come up with another idea. "We can't use Myrtle's bathroom, we already took it over for a study lounge, but imagine what we could do with the chamber! And I'm sure there's nothing too dangerous anymore, because I had to let Professor Dumbledore in to get rid of the worst stuff!"

"The chamber of secrets?"

"Seriously?" Cedric asked, his eyes widening.

"It's huge, and it could be nice, with a lot of work," Carina insisted. Then she whispered in his ear, "And I'm sure we could nick a few couches to keep down there, too. No chance of getting caught."

Cedric grinned, "I'm in."

Hermione and Angelina exchanged glances and nodded, both looking exasperated with the couples sugary sweet relationship.

"Hey, you have no right, Mrs. Tonks," Carina huffed. Hermione and Ryan had indeed been spending a lot of time together. As in, they were practically inseparable. Carina told Angelina and Cedric, with only half-faked exasperation, "You should see the two of them, they're unbelievable. They make me and Cedric look like a summer fling. I'm shocked she's not wearing a ring yet."

"I'm shocked you aren't pregnant yet," Hermione threw back.

"You would be the third person to know if I had sex, and I haven't," Carina glared.

"Sorry," Hermione shrugged. "Same to you, though."

**The Chamber**

"This place is disgusting," Angelina announced, touching the wall with a finger and cringing at the amount of dust that came off.

"I said it needed work," Carina defended, though even she looked a bit dubious.

"You understated it," Hermione put in, looking disgusted.

"Hey, hard work is what Hufflepuffs are all about," Cedric said when all three girls turned to him for his complaint.

Carina kissed him, "You're sweet. Let's get to work."

Once she turned around, Cedric looked at Angelina in panic. "This is gonna take forever," he mouthed silently, not wanting to invoke Carina's wrath.

Angelina snickered and mouthed, "Whipped."

Carina turned, "What?"

"Nothing," Angie said innocently.

"Right," Carina said, not believing her in the slightest, but not in the mood to pick a fight.

For the next several hours, cleaning spells were the only thing heard around the chamber of secrets. By the end of the day, it was at least marginally clean. No one looked forward to returning to clean even more, all uncertain of how long it was going to take them to make noticeable progress.

Nonetheless, the next morning, they returned for more. By the end of their second day, the place practically sparkled… they only had to get furniture and rearrange things now. Cedric, Carina, Angelina and Hermione were all quite relieved to find it wasn't going to take as long as they'd momentarily suspected that it would be.

They spent the third day covering the walls in posters and pictures, so as to lower the amount of depressing stone-gray that they had to look at every time they decided to hang out in their new place.

Carina spent several hours transfiguring a whole load of pebbles into a bunch of rugs, mats and carpets to cover up the previously dirt floor. She also transfigured a bunch of rocks into plates, silverware, and cups, stacking them carefully out of the way so that they wouldn't break before they found a way to safely store them.

Angelina charmed a bunch of candles to float in the air above them, as well as making them glow a bunch of different colors and making them sparkle, as well as other cool effects. She'd made some of the candles float in colored bubbles and even shaped some of them into the Hogwarts shield and the house symbols.

Cedric set up some wards, mostly ones to keep in noise and alert them to visitors. He couldn't do a lot with wards yet, but was actually beyond all the other students in Hogwarts that knew anything about wards… by far. He'd had personal tutoring from Bill Weasley during the summers since the man had left for his curse breaking training.

Hermione helped each of them and transfigured some boulders into chairs and couches, much to the delight of Cedric and Carina who made immediate use of them. Only making out of course, they weren't ready for more… yet.

In the end, with the assistance of several sneaky plans, they stole desks and chairs from a few unused classrooms. Storage rooms provided a couple of extra couches and some beds, and Carina's manipulations of the house elves (much to Hermione's disapproval and Cedric's stunned amusement) led to them having functioning bathrooms and a kitchen, as well.

All in all, Carina announced her desire to move in the instant they were done, and was seconded, thirded, and fourthed. Their place was amazing.

**Chamber Completed**

The four friends knocked their bottles of butterbeer together.

"To friendship," Cedric announced.

Carina smirked, "To back breaking, unbelievably endless labor."

Hermione giggled, "To making out on every surface!"

They knocked the bottles again, all very proud of the work they'd done to make Slytherin's chamber theirs. To Angelina, the best part was what the Slytherin's would think of it… the rest of them just liked having their own place. Well, Carina privately enjoyed imagining what Voldemort would think of her decorations to his ancestor's secret chamber, but she wasn't going to tell her friends that. They'd think she was nuts.

Angelina said solemnly, "Friends forever."

"Forever," Cedric, Carina and Hermione echoed.


End file.
